orking - MetosExpo - Free

connecting this point with the edge of the 19-in. mark will
give the angle at which to cut the slides.
To be sure that all the slides will have the same angle and
be cut exactly the same, you should construct a jig. Square a
piece of plywood about 6 in. wide and a foot longer than the
angled portion. Place the slide over the plywood with both
marks (the ends of the line you have drawn) just touching the
bottom edge of the plywood. Then trace the end and the
other side of the slide and bandsaw out the shape.
With the table-saw fence still at the same setting you used
to cut the plywood jig to width, insert the slide into the jig
and make the cut. Use the same setup for all four slides and
you can be sure they will all turn out the same.
The slides run in slots in the end aprons and the parallel
center support. One pair of slides travels inside the other pair,
and the two run side by side in the slots in the center support.
To lay out these grooves, mark lines on top of the apron at
both ends, 1-114 in. from the inside edge of all four legs.
With a long straightedge, transfer these lines to the center
support. Mark the thickness of the slide to the ozttszde of the
table from these lines on one apron, and to the inside of the
table from the lines on the other. On the center support,
mark the thickness of a slide to both sides of the center line.
The grooves on the end aprons must be the same depth as
the slide at that point, so that the leaf will clear the apron as it
is extended. To fi nd this depth, measure in 4 in. from the
tapered end of the slide and cut the groove to the exact depth
of the slide at this point, in this case 7/8 in .
To find the depth of the grooves in the center support, f{rst
mark its location onto the slides, in this case 25 -1/4 in. from
the tapered end, or half of the length of the closed table.
Then push the tapered side down flat and measure the depth
at the marked point, in this case 1-7/8 in. This is the minimum
depth that will allow the leaf to rise 3/4 in. in its travel ;
the grooves may be cut a little deeper if you wish.
Now that all the measurements and cuts have been made,
the tapered ends of the slides can be trimmed. I wanted the
closed slides to extend 1 in. beyond the apron , so I cut off 3 in.
To assem ble the table, place the slides in the grooves with
the angled sides up. Put the leaves in position (don't forget
that you just trimmed 3 in. off the end of each slide) , and
glue and screw the slides to the leaves. To locate the stops, extend
the leaves 19 in. and mark where the slides pass through
the center support. Then screw on the stops at this point.
The central plywood piece is screwed to the base above the
central suppOrt. It prevents the leaves from falling down
when they are pulled out and locates the tabletop. Drill two
3/4-in. holes in the central plywood piece between the slides
and the apron ; these are the guide holes for the top .
Now push the leaves in and locate the top in its correct
position . Clamp it down to the leaves and mark the location
of the guide holes on the underside of the top. Then drill and
gl ue two 3/4-in. dowels into these holes. The dowels should
be about 2 -1/4 in. long, since the top has to move up a full
3/4 in . while the leaves are being extended .
When you push the leaves back in you have to lift the
tabletop. To prevent scratches that would result from the
tabletop sliding on the leaves, I glued two strips of felt to the
bottom of the top . Use hot hide glue or rubber cement.
f----45-5 / 8 in.-----'
1 9 in·-l J
Lay out slide, then transfe r marks
to plywood to make tapering jig .
f----30 in.
----o-i
51,",)
Jig
Blade
Slide
Ripping the taper: Jig guarantees fo ur identical slides.
Push taper flat to measure depth of slot at center support line.
Contributing Editor Tage Frid is professor of woodworking
and indltStrial design at Rhode Island School of Design.
Slots fo r slides are cut in aprons, center STtpport.
37